PrizePicks partners with Polymarket to launch prediction markets in the US
Daily fantasy sports operator PrizePicks has inked a multi-year partnership with prediction market Polymarket to add event contracts to its offering.
Users will be able to buy and trade Polymarket’s event contracts covering sports, entertainment, and cultural events within the PrizePicks app.
It also represents a return to the US for Polymarket after its acquisition of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed exchange and clearinghouse QCEX. The brand has struggled to relaunch its own platform despite promoting its intention to do so.
PrizePicks Chief Executive Mike Ybarra said, “As the No. 1 daily fantasy sports operator in the US, PrizePicks is thrilled to partner with Polymarket, a trailblazer in the prediction space, to open up new experiences for our millions of existing members and introduce our platform to millions of new customers.
“By entering the US predictions market, PrizePicks will create greater competition, drive innovation and deliver even more value directly to members. Together with Polymarket, we’ll continue to focus on product, innovation, and exceeding our customers’ expectations.”
Polymarket Founder and Chief Executive Shayne Coplan said, “PrizePicks has built one of the nation’s most exciting sports communities, and we are excited to help bring prediction markets into that world. As we prepare to return to the US, this partnership shows how prediction markets can enhance fandom while setting a new standard for interactive, regulated sports engagement.”
PrizePicks recently became the first sports entertainment operator registered as a Futures Commission Merchant with the National Futures Association, enabling it to offer derivatives contracts through federally regulated exchanges.
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The Backstory
How a fantasy giant and a crypto-native market converged
The tie-up brings together a federally registered intermediary shaping its first futures play and a prediction platform engineered for viral reach. PrizePicks spent recent months building the regulatory footing to handle customer orders on designated contract markets. In late summer, its subsidiary Performance Prediction II secured approval from the National Futures Association to operate as a futures commission merchant, a first for a sports entertainment platform. The company said the distinction positions it to route customer transactions on regulated venues and highlighted potential distribution partnerships in capital markets and fintech. That push was detailed in coverage of PrizePicks’ NFA approval, which also noted the firm beat out several major gaming rivals pursuing the same license.
Polymarket, meanwhile, has been working to reenter the U.S. market after a four-year absence. The platform, known for letting users trade yes/no contracts on fast-moving news and culture, reached a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission years ago and blocked U.S. users. Its path back emerged this fall when it acquired derivatives exchange and clearinghouse QCEX for $112 million and received a CFTC no-action letter clearing the way for a regulated return. That regulatory turnabout was outlined in reporting on the CFTC’s green light and further detailed in a subsequent story on Polymarket’s U.S. relaunch timeline and filings for sports and election contracts.
The partnership effectively connects PrizePicks’ large customer base and compliance infrastructure with Polymarket’s event contracts catalog and trading mechanics, stitching together a distribution schema that could accelerate mainstream adoption.
Regulatory runway: the no-action letter and event contract scope
Polymarket’s return hinged on a targeted set of permissions. After acquiring QCEX, the platform secured a CFTC no-action letter on Sept. 3, enabling it to operate within a federally supervised framework. The authorization covers specific categories that resemble sports-book staples—athletic events, spreads and totals—alongside politically sensitive elections markets. The contours of that framework and its limits were captured in coverage of Polymarket’s filings for athletic events, spreads, total scores and election winner contracts, which cited an anticipated early October launch window.
Industry reaction has been split. Some in finance see prediction markets as a new class of information-deriving instruments with the potential to scale beyond niche speculation, while others cast them as casinos by another name. That tension surfaced in early analysis of the CFTC’s no-action decision, which contrasted institutional optimism with a backlash over consumer protection and political exposure. The federal-state divide adds complexity: a CFTC pathway allows nationwide operations for compliant event contracts, but several states assert such products look like wagers and should fall under gaming laws. Nevada regulators recently underscored that stance, treating sports event contracts as traditional bets permissible only through licensed sports pools.
A race to distribution: leagues, platforms and social scale
Even before merging feeds with PrizePicks, Polymarket was broadening reach through high-visibility alliances. The National Hockey League signed multi-year deals with both Polymarket and rival Kalshi that include data rights and branding across regular-season broadcasts and marquee events. The NHL explained the tie-ups as a fan-engagement play as prediction markets scale, but the move drew sharp criticism from the American Gaming Association given the state-level legal landscape. Those dynamics were laid out in reporting on the NHL–Polymarket–Kalshi agreements and ensuing pushback.
Polymarket also struck an integration with X, positioning prediction probabilities and real-time social data in a single stream. The partnership envisions product features that track market moves and sentiment in tandem, expanding the funnel for new users and speeding feedback loops between headlines and pricing. The scope and intent of that play are described in coverage of Polymarket’s deal to become X’s official prediction market partner.
Together, the NHL exposure and X integration aim to normalize prediction markets as an everyday information tool, not just a trading niche. Plugging those feeds into a mass-market fantasy app brings the concept closer to the typical U.S. sports consumer.
Competitive realignment in sports and fintech
PrizePicks’ federal FCM license shifts the competitive field with daily fantasy peers and sportsbooks. The approval, secured ahead of rivals also seeking registration, could allow PrizePicks to intermediate regulated event contracts while others wait in line. The company suggested it may work with brokerages or dedicated prediction venues to expand product access, a strategy previewed in its NFA approval announcement. The same day, lottery giant Allwyn agreed to acquire a controlling stake in PrizePicks, valuing the firm at $2.5 billion, signaling that large incumbents see prediction-linked assets as a growth vector.
Polymarket, for its part, has been buoyed by investor interest and outsized trading activity. The platform touted billions in volume this year and a growing user base, as noted in sector coverage including The Block’s review of Polymarket’s recent volumes and active traders. Strategic backers have also stepped in, with a recent announcement highlighting new capital and additions to its advisory bench. Details were shared in a press release on fresh investment and board appointments.
The combined PrizePicks–Polymarket footprint now targets an audience that spans fantasy sports diehards, retail market participants and news-driven traders. That blend raises the stakes for sportsbooks navigating state-by-state licensing and for prediction rivals focused on exchange models under federal oversight.
What to watch next: policy tests, product guardrails and liquidity
Key questions revolve around where federal permissions end and state prohibitions begin. The CFTC has signaled openness to carefully scoped event contracts, but the agency faces challenges if markets veer into areas deemed contrary to public interest or election integrity. State gaming regulators may continue to assert jurisdiction when sports-related contracts resemble wagers. The NHL backlash illustrates how brand partnerships can catalyze regulatory scrutiny.
On product, the pairing must harmonize consumer protections spanning futures market compliance, exchange surveillance and responsible gaming norms. PrizePicks’ FCM registration imposes capital, reporting and customer asset requirements; Polymarket’s exchange operations require rigorous market integrity controls. Coordinating disclosures, limits and dispute processes across a shared user experience will be a practical test of the model’s maturity.
Liquidity is the commercial hinge. Polymarket’s volumes and social integrations suggest sufficient order flow to sustain tight markets, while PrizePicks offers a distribution channel that could deepen depth-of-book in U.S.-permitted contracts. Success will depend on how smoothly the partners route orders to designated venues, how quickly they list timely markets without crossing regulatory red lines, and whether retail traders view these contracts as entertainment, hedging tools or information markets worth funding.
With federal permissions in hand and a large on-ramp through fantasy sports, the partnership marks a new phase in the contest to define prediction markets in the U.S. The next catalysts are likely to come from enforcement signposts, marquee league integrations and the first full season of sports and election cycles under the new regime.
